Hunters, photographers, bird watchers, etc. (referred to hereinafter individually as a “sportsman” for convenience) often desire or have a need to remain hidden from view of wildlife they are observing or pursuing. Portable and collapsible shelters or blinds (“blind”) are often used to hide the sportsman from view. Blinds typically include a collapsible support structure and a camouflage fabric cover secured to the support structure. The blind is typically set up for use by expanding the collapsible support structure to create an internal spaced within which the sportsman may enter through a door or opening defined in the cover.
Doors or openings in blinds are usually opened and closed using a zipper. The zipper may be arranged to close an open in a vertical direction. Typically, the cover extends continuously around a periphery of the blind to maintain the blind in an assembled condition. The door may be provided in a sidewall or at a corner of the blind, with a bottom end and top end of the door extending from a bottom portion of the blind to a top portion of the blind. In some blinds, unzipping the door creates a narrow vertical opening in the sidewall of the cover, which requires the sportsman to pull down on the blind to enlarge the opening to enable access. If the opening is extended in the vertical direction, more material will be available along the length of the door or opening to make it easier for the user to pull down vertically on the side edges of the opening to create an enlarged opening for access into the blind. Forcing the sides down to widen the access opening in the blind after unzipping the blind is awkward and cumbersome. It becomes especially difficult when the sportsman needs to insert not only his or he body through the opening but gear also.
Traditional blind access openings that utilize zippers are also noisy. Minimizing noise is always an object of sportsmen, especially bowhunters and others who need to get close to game animals. The mechanical sound of a zipper or other mechanical fasteners, such as certain types of plastic buckles and clips, may be heard at significant distances by game animals.
Opportunities exist for improvements in access openings for blinds.